Hi all
Last year while volunteering at a campground in Illinois we were covered by workmen's comp (They paid us $1 per day so that we were eligible). I just found out that workmen's comp for volunteers was been canceled (very quietly) in Illinois. We are now camphosting at the same campground in Illinois. So, if we are injured on the job, we have to file the claim thru our own insurance. The same if our trailer or truck is damaged. Our only other recourse is to sue the state, and I can just imagine what a nightmare that would be.
We're wondering if this is even legal.
And are there any others of you out there not covered by workmen's comp because you are a volunteer?
We are trying to decide if we should look for another camphosting job.

Workers Compensation is one of those areas of law that is very unique to each state. Yes, you can sue the state in theory for negligence typically, but even then there will be a ton of unique issues peculiar to the given state, the agency being served and the incident in question. But this is much the same as the situation as with any services that are provided as a "independent contractor", who also don't have workers comp. In many respects a volunteer is closer to that category than an employee status. I think the prior situation you relate was perhaps the unique situation rather than the "new" situation. I know if I volunteer time to scouts or church or a kids baseball team, I don't expect to be covered by workers comp.

I just noticed the first bit about you being paid $1 per day to be an employee. That is probably the bigger issue as now there are all kinds of state and federal minimum wage laws and things like that. Probably the State Human Resources got on them with input from the State tax dept and legal dept.

In our experience, volunteering at Federal and most state parks has meant being covered under Worker's Comp. You didn't say, but were you volunteering at one of these or for a private agency?

We camp host at a California State Beach and are covered under Workers Comp. I would think the $1 per day would cause more problems than it would solve. For example, if you are employed in most states you are required to license your vehicles and obtain drivers licenses in that state. That would not be a problem if you lived there already, but it would be a deal killer for us. We have no intention of becoming residents of anywhere other than our current "residence" on Rainbow Drive in Livingston, TX. Failure to cover us under their Workers Comp would also be a deal breaker for us.

We have volunteered at 4 different states, at their state parks. It general, we are not covered with workmans comp. In general we are not covered with automobile insurance. In other words, if get in an accident while using a state park vehicle, our own insurance has to cover us. That is usually unlikely.
Not the key word "in general". Everything varies by state and is subject to change in any given year, so pay attention.
For instance, in AZ, if you clean a bathroom and pick up one of those bathroom diseases, you are NOT covered. The solution of course is to not clean any bathroom. In TX you are not covered for auto insurance. So in TX, don't drive a state park vehicle if at all possible.

Thanks everyone.
Just FYI - this is a state park. I too wondered about the $1 per day, but the first year we volunteered, we didn't question it because we wanted the chance to experience camphosting near home, and to get a year's experience under our belts. I actually think we won't question the #1, more in case something does happen, and then it might work in our favor.

For now we'll probably stay put, unless something else comes along that makes more sense.

We volunteer for a national park. We are covered under workmans comp. I don't know about insurance on the golf cart we use, though. Interesting issue.

Jack,
If you are using the golf cart in the scope of your employment and its furnished, don't fret, your covered.

Mike

.....IF your job does NOT have WC you can get it yourself and just pay a few cents on the dollar as I do for self coverage....geofkaye

We have volunteered for state parks in Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, and Oregon. In each case we were told that we were covered by insurance, though I am not sure that it was Workman's Comp. in all cases. We have also volunteered for Florida Game & Fish and Virgina Dept. of Forestry and we were covered by insurance. We also volunteered for several different National Wildlife Refuges and for three different National Parks and were covered by insurance as well as at a county park in California.

I know because in each case we filled out insurance application forms as a part of the things we got from the agency. At his moment, we have forms for the same from the Army Corps of Engineers and their paper work states:

quote:

While performing their duties, volunteers receive protection for personal liability under the Tort Claims Act and are entitled to first aid and medical treatment for on-the-job injuries under the Federal Employees Compensation Act.

In checking through our files from previous positions, I find that the paperwork from all of the federal agencies that we have volunteered for have had that same type statement somewhere in it.

Since Workman's Comp. is one of those state operations which are partially federally funded, the coverage is different from what the federal agencies supply. The only place that we have not been covered by insurance was a county park in Washington where we signed papers that we understood that we were not to use any chemicals or operate any machinery for that reason. We keep files on all of our volunteer positions with copies of the paperwork and I can not find any but that one which did not state that we were covered by insurance.

That same thing has been true for motor vehicles when we used the agency's vehicle as a part of our duties. We have operated vehicles in several different positions and I have operated tractors and machinery in more than one. Clearly most states and all federal agencies do have some kind of insurance coverage for their volunteers.

In Kansas, Pam worked in the park office and dealt with a claim for one of the volunteers and so knows that in that case it was Kansas Worker's Comp. which paid.

I camphost at a National Park. A few years ago I "banged" my head, needed a few stiches. I told the Chief Ranger I could get the treatment on either Medicare or Workmans Comp. He said "better do it on Workmans Comp". That was my expierence.

Unfortunately it seems that state parks are more likely to not offer insurance coverage on the job.
Here's the crazy thing, and we're hoping our ace in the hole. We did get a W-2 from the state last year recording our $1 a day pay. And we had to report it on our tax return. We are still getting paid $1 a day. It would seem to me, that would qualify us as employees should it ever come to the point where we had to fight to get coverage. The sad thing is that it makes you want to sit back and do as little as possible for fear of being injured on the job.

Kirk or Jack

If you Volunteer do you get a 1099? Is there anything that qualifies as "income" the $1 a day thing mentioned.I thought you didn't get 1099 unless you were paid over $600. I'm in Mancos, CO. starting a WK job. It is a beautiful place, however not very organized and I would like some structure, like 3 on 4 off you mentioned, Jack.

I manage a State Park in NY. Everyone who officially volunteers in NYS Parks, even Boy Scouts working on an Eagle Badge Project, must complete an application and they are covered by Workers Compensation Insurance.

Jim

Cookie,

I don't get a 1099 or W2 from where I volunteer. I do get a W2 from where I work in CO - but that is a paid job.

Kirk will have the best answer on this - he has worked on more volunteer positions than anyone I know.